1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lightweight, hand-guided sweeping apparatus of the type having a rotary brush for propelling debris into a hopper. The apparatus of the present invention is preferably, but not exclusively, intended for use by golf courses grounds keeping crews for efficiently removing debris from various surfaces such as greens, fairways, tees and walkways. For example, the apparatus of the present invention is well suited to efficiently remove and collect aeration core debris from greens and fairways.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, sweepers using a rotary cylindrical brush to propel debris into a hopper are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,732,572 discloses a manually operated ground sweeper having a rotary brush propelling debris into a rearwardly disposed hopper. As the operator pushes the ground sweeper, its wheels directly drive the rotary brush. U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,912 is another example of a manually operated street cleaning apparatus having a rotary brush collecting debris in a rear hopper which can be tilted back and emptied into a larger hopper. However, those apparatuses are not self-propelled and are not adapted to cover large areas efficiently and are generally labour intensive.
There are also known self-propelled street sweepers and vacuuming units which use rotary brushes on their undercarriage to dislodge dirt and debris to facilitate their subsequent vacuuming into a collection chamber. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,283 discloses a hand-guided self-propelled street sweeper using rotary brushes and vacuum to collect debris into a detachable hopper. Such prior art sweepers are disadvantageous in that they are quite heavy and unwieldy. If ever they were attempted to be used on a turf surface such as the greens and fairways of a golf course, such machines, because of their weight and method of operation, would greatly damage the turf firstly by leaving compacting marks and secondly by gouging the turf surface and would generally be unwieldy. Moreover, their detachable hopper would have to be repeatedly manually emptied to continue sweeping operations.
Generally, it is also known in the prior art to provide tractor accessories to collect debris from turf surfaces such as golf courses. For example, it is known in the trade to use a Cushman Core Harvester.TM. (distributed by Ransomes America Corporation of Minneapolis, Minn.) to collect aeration cores from greens and fairways. Such equipment consists of an inclined treadmill with one end being positioned close to the ground to collect and transport aeration cores to a rear hopper. However such equipment suffers from the disadvantages that it must operate on very smooth surfaces, it is slow, and it will not collect most flat debris such as twigs, pine needles, leaves, etc.
There is therefore a need for a self-propelled and lightweight apparatus which will efficiently remove various debris such as aeration cores, twigs, leaves, pine needles, gravel, tree bark, and discarded food or beverage packaging from many surfaces including turfs such as lawns, greens, tees, and fairways, and walkway or parking lot surfaces.